The Roman Empire (4-6)
After an 0-3 and 1-6 start, Rome has finally found some traction, winning their last 3 games and looking hungrily towards .500. It would be tempting to tie the turnaround to the insertion of Luck as the starting QB, but he lost his first game, and Manning engineered the most recent victory.
Luck will miss at least one more week, but will step back into the starter’s role.
The offense has been mediocre, but the defense has been dire: over 400 yards per game surrendered, and bottom tier against both run and pass.
#Bottom Line
Roster Moves. Eric Winston to G for Zeitler. Move Dhani Jones up at LB.
Draft Needs. LB. Followed distantly by OL.
Week Four Draftee Update: Dennis Gaubatz, 4 special teams tackles, that’s it; likely to be replaced on the roster by this draft’s player.
#QB
Peyton Manning was the starter, but he struggled to a 1-5 record, completing just shy of 60% of his throws and managing only 9 TDs to go along with 6 interceptions for a passing rating under 80. Manning was good in 2 games, mediocre in 2, and downright bad in 3–it was the inconsistency as much as anything else that led to his benching in favor of Andrew Luck, who has been much better, with a QB rating hovering around 100.
#RB
Edgerrin James is the lead rusher, but Rome’s offense really kicked into high gear when he began to share time with James Brooks (who has Rome’s only 100 yard game on the season). Combined, they have 964 yards rushing, forming one of the better 2-headed backfields in the league. James has added 18 catches for over 200 yards as well.
Jeremy Hill has gained 130 yards on 26 rushes and both he and Giovani Bernard are getting more looks as the season progresses.
James will miss at least one more week through injury, giving Brooks & company even more time to even out the numbers. Regardless, the running game has to be seen as a strength for the Empire.
#WR & TE
Marvin Harrison leads the way with 71 catches for 925 yards and 7 TDs (and, it must be said, 8 drops). A.J. Green has been quite effective in the short game, catching 56 passes for 559 yards, and Hakeem Nicks, at 14.6 yards per catch, is emerging as a legitimate deep threat. Coby Fleener has added 2 TDs on only 11 catches. All in all, a very solid bunch, even given the amount of attention Harrison receives.
#OL
Anthony Munoz, Max Montoya, and Andrew Whitworth have done well, but it falls off quickly after that. Ray Donaldson has given up 5 sacks and Jack Mewhort and Kevin Zeitler have been barely competent.
Eric Winston has looked solid, but is blocked by Whitworth and Munoz at T.
#DL
Carlos Dunlap has had an odd year, shut out entirely in the two games against San Francisco, but playing excellently outside of that. He has only 1 sack, but 14 hurries and 45 tackles from the end. Cory Redding has been strong, with 5 sacks and 7 stuffs. Robert Geathers has added 4 sacks, and Domata Peko and Geno Atkins have both been solid when healthy. The line has been solid.
#LB
Aside from Shaun Phillips (5 sacks), the LB corps seems never to have recovered from the early season injury to D’Qwell Jackson. Jerrell Freeman has led the way in tackles with 52, but this is a weakness of the team right now.
#DB
Terence Newman has led the secondary with 55 tackles and 7 deflections and Mike Adams has 2 interceptions and is 4th on the team in tackles with 39, while successfully defending over 50% of the balls thrown his way. Vontae Davis was having a great year, but he’s missed 5 weeks through injury and is unlikely to see the field again this season. Leon Hall is due back soon, which should help.
Ultimately, however, the secondary is being asked to do too much for this team.
#P & K
Mike Nugent has been excellent, converting all 24 XPs and 23 of 27 FGs with a long of 54, leaving him with 93 points on the year.
Pat McAfee is averaging 46 yards a punt, with 10 placed inside the 20.
#Returns
Josh Cribbs is averaging 27.7 on KOs and 6.7 on punts, both reasonably solid.